SKAGWAY, AK

August 2, 2011

Another travel day from Destruction Bay to Skagway.  This is the third long travel day in a row.  We will all need 4 nights in one place to catch up.   Today the roads were better.

Skagway is a port city at the northern most end of the Inside Passage.  To get there we went though scenic mountains and stopped at Emerald Lake, another beautiful blue-green lake.  White sediment called marl is decomposed shells mixed with clay that lies on the bottom of the lake. The rainbow-like colors of the lake result from blue-green light waves reflecting off the marl.

We crossed the world's smallest dessert in Carcross.  This "desert" is composed of sandy lake-bottom material left behind by a large glacial lake.  Strong winds off the lake near it make it difficult for vegetation to take root here.  I later learned it's not really a dessert after all.

On our way to Skagway we passed Tormented Valley.  It is a rocky and desolate moonscape of stunted trees and small lakes.  

Skagway is the port city located at the northern most end of the Inside Passage.   But to get there by land you must descend 11 1/2 miles at 11% grade to get there.  Definitely low gear and only 30 mph.  Another stop at customs before arriving in skagway.